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jci ies XIII 


February 1913 


Number la 



THE REFORESTATION OF CUT-OVER 
AND IDLE LANDS IN NEW YORK 



BULLETIN 

OF 

New York 
State College of Forestry 



AT 



Syracuse University 



Published Quarterly by the University, 
Syracuse, N. Y. 



Entered at the Postof flee at Syracuse as second-class matter 



TRUSTEES. 



Ex Officio. 

Chancellor James Roscoe Day, S. T. D., D. C. L., 

LL.D ........... Syracuse, N. Y. 

Hon. Andrew S. Draper, LL.B., LL.D., Com- 
missioner of Education Albany, N. Y. 

Appointed by the Governor. 

Hon. George E. Van Kennen, Chairman Con- 
servation Commission Ogdensburg, N. Y. 

Mr. George W. Driscoll. Syracuse, N. Y. 

Hon. John R. Clancy. ...... Syracuse, N. Y. 

Chosen by the University Trustees. 

Hon. Hendrick S. Holden Syracuse, N. Y. 

Mr. James M. Gilbert Syracuse, N. Y. 

Mr. George J. Sager. . Syracuse, N. Y. 

Mr. Wilfred W. Porter Syracuse, N. Y. 

Hon. Louis Marshall.. New York, N. Y. 

Mr. Edwin R. Redhead Fulton, N. Y. 

OFFICERS OF THE BOARD. 

President Hon. Louis Marshall. 

Vice-President Hon. John R. Clancy. 

Secretary and Treasurer Wilfred W. Porter. 



BULLETIN 



OF 



NEW YORK STATE 

COLLEGE OF FORESTRY 



AT 



SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 



THE REFORESTATION OF CUT-OVER AND 
IDLE LANDS IN NEW YORK 



SYRACUSE 
1913 



FACULTY OF THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF 
FORESTRY AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY. , 



JAMES ROSCOE DAY, S. T. D., D. C. L., LL.D. 

Chancellor of the University. 



HUGH POTTER BAKER, M. F. (Yale 1904); D. Oec. (Munich 

1910), Dean, 
Professor of Silviculture. 

FRANK F. MOON, B. A. (Amherst College 1901) ; M. F. (Yale 

1909), 
Professor of Forest Engineering. 

PHILIP TRIPP COOLIDGE, A. B. (Harvard 1905) ; M. F. (Yale 

1907), 
Director of Ranger School ; Professor of Forestry. 

EDWARD F. MCCARTHY, B. S. (University of Michigan 191 1) ; 
M. F. (University of Michigan 1911), 
Assistant Professor of Forest Products. 

JOHN WALLACE STEPHEN, B. A. (University of Michigan) ; 

M r S. (University of Michigan 1907), 

Assistant Professor of Silviculture. 

NELSON CORTLANDT BROWN, B. A. (Yale 1906) ; M. F. (Yale 

1908), 
Assistant Professor of Forest Utilisation. 

REUBEN PARKER PRICHARD, B. S. (Dartmouth 1907) M. F. 

Yale (1909), 
Instructor in Forestry at Ranger School. 

RUSSELL TAYLOR GHEEN, B. S. F. (Penn State 1912), 
Student Assistant in Forestry. 

EDITH E. HAITH, B. L. E. (Syracuse 1912), 
Librarian. 

LILLIAN M. LANG, 
Secretary to the Dean. 



[3] 





Photo by Hugh P. Baker. 

There are Valuable Forests upon State Lands in 
New York. 

Virgin Forest in Township 40 in the Adirondacks. 
Much of the larger Spruce, Fir and Beech and Birch 
are over-ripe and should he removed to insure the 
proper development of the future forest. 



THE REFORESTATION OF CUT OVER AND IDLE LANDS IN 

NEW YORK. 

A Large Part of New York Better Suited to Forestry than 
to Agriculture. 

Out of the 34,000,000 of acres in the State of New York over 35 
per cent or 12,000,000 of acres are better suited for the growing of 
timber than for any other purpose. This is the verdict of the Census 
Bureau for the Great State of New York. It is difficult indeed to 
appreciate what this large area of land means, but if it were one 
unbroken forest, it would cover the States of Rhode Island, Connecti- 
cut, Massachusetts and extend for forty miles across the southern 
part of Vermont and New Hampshire. Or it would cover in our own 
State practically all of the section north of the New York Central 
Railroad. 

Statistics show also that out of the 22,000,000 of acres enclosed 
within the farms of the State, but 15,000,000 are actually in agricultural 
crops. This means that there are 7,000,000 of idle acres in the farms 
of New York which should be made productive. It is probable that 
not all of this large area is actually nonagricultural, but without ques- 
tion there is an area larger than the State of Massachusetts enclosed 
within our farms and permanently non-productive. Of the 12,000,000 
of acres outside of the farms and referred to above, it has been 
shown that less than half contains merchantable timber, about four 
million and a half of the twelve millions of acres are covered with 
more or less valuable growth but non-merchantable ; there are then 
nearly two millions of acres with no valuable growth at all, really in 
the form of waste lands. 

New York has no Real Waste Land. 

It is a misnomer in a way to call these essential forest lands waste 
lands. To-day New York is land poor in a sense and yet these very 
lands will in time become a source of large profit to the State. 
Forest land in Europe not nearly as well adapted to the production 
of forests as much of the forest areas of New York is producing 
as high, as $3 to $5 per acre per year. It may be many years before 
our waste lands will be producing so high an annual return as this 
but with reasonable care these lands will soon begin to be productive 
and in time will bear a large share of the burden of the support of 
this great Commonwealth. 

[5] 



6 College of Forestry 

Little or no Valuable Tree Growth on Denuded Lands. 

What is the condition of these denuded lands at the present time? 
Over much of the area we will find a scattering growth of brush 
and inferior tree species occupying the ground or we may find old, 
abandoned pastures gradually giving up to the extension of the forests 
about them. Usually they produced a valuable timber crop in the 
past and are capable of such production again. If left to herself 
Nature might succeed in time in re-establishing a good forest. How- 
ever, the often repeated statement that if we will simply protect our 
cutover lands, as they now exist, from fire, that they will soon come 
up to valuable forests again, is seldom true. Where a reasonable 
number of the right kind of mother trees have been left on the 
ground, Nature may in time reforest the surface with a fair growth 
of timber. There are very extensive areas in New York where all of 
the valuable trees have been cut or destroyed by fire and it will take 
many years indeed to bring back anything in the way of a satis- 
factory forest. Over such areas it will be necessary to do a certain 
amount of planting before the right kind of forest can be established. 
As the forest lands of New York lie largely in the zone of the 
maximum development of the conifers, which are usually evergreens, 
the future forests of the State will without doubt be made up largely 
of rapid growing conifers such as some of the pines and spruces. 

Second Growth Hardwood Often Worthless. 

Over lands which formerly produced a hardwood forest, Nature 
often re-establishes a second forest in a comparatively short time. 
These second growth hardwood or sprout forests are formed readily 
from the stumps of trees and in a measure are independent of seed 
trees for reproduction. It is very different with the conifers or ever- 
greens which with one or two exceptions are incapable of reproducing 
by means of sprouts. As certain of our conifers are the most rapid 
growing trees which we can put onto the land and have a timber 
that is very desirable for use in the industries, it is probable that 
much of our future forests will be evergreen or coniferous. There is 
too much land in the State to-day covered with poor, worthless, second 
growth hardwoods. These should be removed entirely and replaced 
by seedlings of the evergreens. Much quicker returns will be gotten 
by this clear cutting and planting than can be expected from the present 
growth on the ground, even though some attempt is made to im- 
prove it. After the coniferous forest is once well established it may 




After the lumberman has come and gone and fire has swept over annually 
for a few years, the soil formed by centuries of forest cover disappears. 
It may take centuries to bring the soil back again and make the land as 
able to produce the forests as when the virgin forest was cleared off. 




Courtesy of Conservation Commission. 

A bit of valuable forest land in Xew York that should never have been 
denuded. Why should this land lie idle for almost a century waiting for 
nature to crown it with forests? While it is idle it is not only unpro- 
ductive but because of erosion is a menace to agricultural lands below 
and to streams and rivers. 



8 College of Forestry 

be possible to use methods of natural reproduction that will make 
unnecessary any large amount of planting. The reforestation of idle 
or barren lands by replanting is expensive and it is hoped that as 
Forestry develops in the State that less and less of it will be neces- 
sary. The fact that over 3,000,000 acres or nearly 10 per cent of the 
States are covered with no growth of value should be cause enough 
for active agitation and real beginnings in reforestation. The great 
area of ten per cent of the State should be returning from six to 
eight millions of dollars annually with only very ordinary forest 
management. In the County of Onondaga alone there are 70,000 
acres of unimproved land and it is very safe to say that over 15,000 
of these must be replanted if they are to be made in any way pro- 
ductive. They will be absolutely nonproductive if left barren as they 
are not adapted to agriculture of any kind. 

Idle Lands Within Farms of the State. 

Too much of the real idle land of this State is found enclosed 
within our farms. There are very few farms which do not have 
from 10 to 40 acres that are better suited for growing timber than for 
any agricultural crop. Often, if these lands are stripped of their tree 
growth they will soon begin to wash and at once become a menace 
to the more valuable lands lying below them, therefore, when the tim- 
ber is cut, the land should be replanted at once to forest trees. One 
objection to planting a forest is that it takes considerable time for the 
trees to become of value. This should have less weight in the con- 
sideration of the farmer than it has. It is coming to be recognized 
that thrifty growing trees have a definite value however small they 
are. We do not expect or want good agricultural land to be used for 
the production of trees, but a few acres of drifting sand or rocky 
hillside will give a bad impression of the farm as a whole. A pros- 
pective buyer will be greatly influenced in his valuation of the prop- 
erty by the barren and unsightly portions, perhaps more strongly 
influenced than by the actual amount of fertile land, thus it will be 
seen that a good growth of forests on the idle lands of our farms 
would be of value from an aesthetic standpoint and regardless in a 
way of the actual value of the growing stock. With the constant de- 
mand for poles and posts and other timbers on the farm, it will be 
possible to draw very early indeed upon the planted timber for a 
return. Then too, many of the farms in the State could be made to 
produce as a bi-product obtained by thinning from the planted forest 




Courtesy of Conservation Commission. 

Experimental plantations being put out by the State on State lands. 
Forests are necessary to protect the soil, conserve the water supply and 
by planting where nature will not restock the ground easily we grow 
what we want, where we want it, more of it, with a greater value, in a 
shorter time, and, all things considered, at less expense. 




Courtesy of Conservation Commission. 

Results of planting on State lands in Adirondacks. Instead of paper 
birch, trembling aspen and pincherry occupying this ground for the next 
twenty-five years, we have a uniform stand of thrifty pine with every square 
rod occupied. Such results can be gotten on idle lands anywhere in the State. 



io College of Forestry 

enough Christmas trees annually to more than pay for the thinning 
and in a sense pay a considerable part of the cost of the plantation 
itself. The same is true of larger bodies of cut-over or idle land 
belonging either to the States or to large land owners. In their 
desolate barren condition, they are of no value to anyone and they 
are a disgrace to a State as progressive and prosperous as the State 
of New York. The only way to make them valuable is to start a 
forest upon them which in time will produce an annual crop of 
timber. Far-sighted business men are beginning to see the value of 
young timber and are buying lands covered with promising young 
growth and holding them until they have a market value. 

Idle Lands Made Productive by Planting of Forest Trees. 

It is a fair question to ask each farmer in the State and each land 
owner whether he has such idle lands as are described above and 
whether it is not worth while to grow a crop that will not only 
increase the sale value of the property but will annually make the land 
more and more productive. Trees are the only crop which will do this 
and leave the land in better condition than at the start. 

Take for example the case of John Mathers who has a rarm in 
Onondaga County. It contains 20 acres of land in the form of a 
rocky hillside that is practically useless for agriculture. This piece 
has a slope greater than 10 per cent, and therefore should never have 
been cut-over and left clear in the first place because of the danger 
of severe erosion. It has long been a question with Mr. Mathers as 
to what use to make of this barren hillside. As it stands to-day it is 
a constant expense for taxes besides it depreciates the value of the 
entire farm because of its unsightly appearance. Every rain cuts 
deeper and deeper the gulleys on the hillside and carries gravel and 
rocks farther down over the cultivated fields. The New York State 
College of Forestry at Syracuse University would like to step in here 
and co-operate with Mr. Mathers by making a plan or giving sugges- 
tions for planting of this waste area with such rapid growing ever- 
greens as the White or Norway Pine or the Norway Spruce. Mr. 
Mathers being a practical man will want to know the expense and the 
approximate returns of such a plantation before undertaking the work. 

The expense of such a plantation as Mr. Mathers would want to 
make would consist of the cost of planting, interest on value of land, 
taxes on land and timber all carried at compound interest to the time 
of harvesting. The net returns will be the gross returns less the total 



Reforestation of Cut Over and Idle Lands u 

expense. With lands worth $4 per acre, cost of planting $7 per acre 
and money at 4 per cent., it will result as follows for White Pine : 



Age of plantation in years. 



Gross 

returns. 



Expenses. 



Net 
1 returns. 



Net 

return 

per acre 

and year. 



25 S6 per M 

30 (Stumpage value) 

3.5 

40 $8 per M 

45 (Stumpage value) 

50 $10 per M 

55 (Stumpage value) 

60 $12 per M 

65 (Stumpage value) 



$40 50 
75 00 

195 00 
262 40 
324 80 

465 00 
505 50 

532 00 

566 00 



$27 50 
37 60 

52 54 

72 20 

108 66 

157 85 

228 05 

315 68 
433 2S 



$13 00 
38 40 

142 66 
190 20 
216 20 

307 15 

277 45 

216 32 

132 72 



50 52 
1 28 



60 
04 



This table will bear careful study as it is taken from a large number 
of studies made from the growth of planted White Pine under condi- 
tions very similar to those existing in the county. What does the 
table show? It indicates that land of poor quality is capable of pro- 
ducing valuable returns. Up to 25 or 30 years of age, the diameter is 
small and the material has to be used for poles or fuel or pulp and 
boxboards. The stumpage value is around $6 per thousand feet. 
From that age on it puts on timber rapidly and the quality of the 
timber is ever better. It will bring $8 per thousand feet and yield a 
net return at the age of 35 to 50 of over $4 per acre per year. At 
about 60 years of age it yields the highest return which is $6 per acre 
per year. From the time the timber has passed 35 years of age until 
it reaches 60, it can be cut at any time and will return a greater value 
per acre than the value of the land if used in any other way. It 
shows further that one can afford to pay somewhat more than $4 an 
acre for land that is now idle and reforest it with every assurance 
that it will make a profitable long time investment. Approximately 
the same results as described for the White Pine can be obtained by 
using Norway Pine, Norway Spruce, Western Red Fir and such hard- 
woods as the Ash and Red Oak. These last must be put into some- 
what different soils and different locations than the conifers described 
above and yet the results of plantations of these species show that 
very excellent returns can be gotten even on the worst bits of idle 
land in the farms of the State. 





Courtesy of Conservation Commission. 

Forest conditions on a cut-over and abandoned tract fifty years after 
self-seeding has been accomplished. Note the variety of species many of 
which are inferior both in kind and quality. Proper management would 
remove the undesirable species and increase by two or three times the 
growth of the right kind of trees. 









Courtesy of W. C. Shepard. 



A second growth sprout and seedling woodlot properly thinned. Poor 
and worthless kinds of trees taken out and the better ones given a 
chance to greatly increase their growth. 



Reforestation of Cut Ove r and I die Lands 13 

The Improvement of Woodlands and Farm Woodlots. 

It may be that there is already a sort of forest growth on these idle 
lands. If there is, it will pay to handle it properly. Thus far in this 
State, we have been using the accumulation of years of growth with- 
out thought for future growth. Little or no provision is being made 
for a second crop. Where a second growth is coming on, too little 
thought is being given to it. No forest can be continued permanently 
unless satisfactory reproduction is secured and proper conditions 
maintained. 

The grove or woodlot, as timber on the farm is usually called, may 
be so open that the trees retain their limbs well down towards the 
ground, making it impossible to produce anything but knotty timber. 
It may be so open that leaf mold, so necessary to proper conditions of 
growth will not decompose properly and grass and weeds and brush 
will come in and occupy the ground. It is all too often in such 
neglected condition that reproduction is impossible and then the only 
thing that can be done is to cut off the present growth and start a new 
forest from the beginning. It may be possible at times to thicken up 
the woodlot by underplanting or to change the condition to such an 
extent that self-seeding will be successful. This natural reproduction 
will often take place easily if stock is kept out of the woodlot. No 
reproduction can be expected if land is pastured. The wood lot may 
be so dense that the trees crowd each other so severely that growth 
is checked and the trees do not develop. Eventually a certain number 
must die and the others continue to maturity. This struggle which 
causes the death of many young trees may be lessened in intensity 
to the great benefit of the woodlot by taking out enough trees so that 
those which are left will put on a much larger amount of wood because 
of additional space and light. 

Many woodlots are made up of a great variety of species, a large 
proportion of which are of little value and should be removed to give 
room to the more valuable sorts. The composition and thus the value 
of an entire woodlot may be greatly improved and increased by 
simply taking out the so-called forest weeds, such as Ironwood, Red 
Maple, Dogwood, Juneberry, Hawthorn and others. 

Unfortunately nearly all of the conditions described above are found 
in woodlots in every county in the State. Several may be found in 
any one farm forest. Look through woodlot or timberland ! Is there 
a tree there under 25 years of age? If not, is it not because you have 
pastured it or have allowed surface fires to run through annually? 




Very barren and waste hillsides in the Karst in Southern Austria being 
brought back to productive forest conditions through the planting of trees. 
Nowhere in New York are there more barren hills than these which are 
being so successfully reforested. Climatic conditions are much more favor- 
able in New York than in region shown in above picture. 




Photo by Hugh P. Baker. 

Planted White Pine in Germany on very sandy soil. This is not the 

result of superior soil or climatic conditions or of an extended period 

of time, but results from the proper handling of the forest from the 
beginning. 



Reforestation of Cut Over and Idle Lands 15 

If no tree has succeeded in starting in the last 25 years, what will be 
the condition of your woodland in the future? Many thousands of 
acres of forest land are being culled annually with no thought of the 
future stand. Every tree removed makes the stand thinner and allows 
of the incoming of more grass and brush and of more windfalls. No 
farm can afford to be without a woodlot upon it both because of the 
pleasure and comfort of it and because the material you can take from 
it annually, makes it well worth while from a financial standpoint. 

The trees and the method of planting that would be suitable for one 
farm or forest property may not be applicable at all to the adjoining- 
one. Conditions of soil, slope and general situation vary so much 
that each area to be reforested is in a sense a problem by itself. It 
will often save both time and money not to plant without knowing 
thoroughly as to the nature of soil and trees best adapted to these 
soils. 

Lands Planted to Forests or Maintained as Forests May be Ex- 
empted from Taxation. 

A State Law passed in 1912 provides for exemption from taxes 
upon certain classes of lands which are planted with forest trees or 
which are maintained as permanent woodlots or timber lands. For 
copy of this Law and information as to the procedure to be followed 
in listing forest lands for exemption from or reduction in taxes 
address the Conservation Commission, Albany, New York. It is 
strongly urged that owners of idle or forested lands throughout the 
State take advantage of the help offered by this Law which seeks to 
overcome some of the unfairness of the older methods of taxing- 
forest lands and puts them more nearly on the same basis as true 
agricultural lands. 

The New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University 
is a State Institution established and supported for educational work 
throughout the entire State. It is ready to co-operate with any land 
owner who wishes to begin planting or who is desirous of improving 
his woodlot or timberland by practical forestry methods. Applications 
for advice and co-operation should be addressed to The New York 
State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New 
York. These applications will be placed on file and as rapidly as 
possible will be taken up in groups by counties and assigned to the 
expert in charge of this work. The only expense connected with the 
inspection will be the necessary traveling expenses and maintenance 



16 College of Forestry 

from the nearest previous inspection. By the system of grouping by 
counties this amounts to very little and would probably never exceed 
five dollars. If the amount of land to be examined is over 300 acres 
and reasonable assurance is given that the plans of management will 
be carried out the inspection will be made free of charge. Groups of 
land owners in the same neighborhood may unite and by bringing 
their combined areas to 300 or more acres have plans made at no 
cost. 



THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF FORESTRY 

AT 

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 

Designated and supported by the State as the Institution for Edu- 
cational Work in Forestry in New York, 

Ofeers at 

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 

A Five- Year Professional Course, leading to degrees of Bachelor 
of Science (B. S.) and Master of Forestry (M. F.). 

A Ranger Course of one and two years given on the College Forest 
in the Adirondacks, Wanakena, New York. Practical courses of 
training leading to such positions as guards, rangers, forest estate 
managers, tree planting experts and nursery foremen. 

As a part of its state-wide educational work, the College offers to 
make plans for the protection and management of timberlands and 
woodlots for the reforestation of cut-over and barren areas. Where 
the timberland or woodlots or barren areas are between 300 and 
1,000 acres and where there is reasonable assurance that plans will be 
carried out, they will be made at no expense to the owner. Where 
there is less than the above amount, it will be necessary to have owners 
pay expenses of traveling and sustenance while the plan is being made. 
Owners of smaller tracts may combine and by bringing the area to 100 
or more acres, have plans made without cost. 

The College invites correspondence at any time as to its educational 
work or for information regarding the protection and management of 
forests or woodlots, tree planting, forest insects and tree diseases, and 
timber treating. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002_ 888 976 



